"A Committee of Correspondence"

27 July 2016

"Black power in Baltimore" LA Times - Re-published 27 July 2016

"The mayor is black. The council is almost two-thirds black. The school superintendent is black. The police chief is black, and a majority of his officers are black.

Race riots inevitably end in contention over what social woes led to the trigger point, with one overarching element: a white power structure ruling a black populace.

Baltimore left behind that vestige of segregation long ago, yet the city nonetheless has been perched on the edge of chaos for much of this week, as African American protesters took to the streets to express grievances over police abuse and urban neglect.

“We ain't talking about color,” said John Baptist Watkins III, 53, sitting on the steps of a boarded-up brick row house on North Avenue, as men nearby peddled drugs — one of the few ways to earn money in this part of town.

Even the city's African American elected officials, Watkins said, “have no clue what is going on in the city.”" LA Times

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If the cops in Baltimore broke Grey's neck they should be prosecuted for homicide.

Nevertheless, it should be remembered that, as I wrote earlier today, the list above should include the state prosecutor who is black and Major General Singh, the Adjutant General of Maryland, a politically appointed state officer, who is also black and a woman.

IMO the root cause of this catastrophe in the life of the City of Baltimore is a lack of available jobs that are accessible to entry level men who are not well qualified for jobs that require education and self discipline in a changing economy.

The reason for this scarcity of jobs is the loss of industrial enterprise in the Baltimore area. This is a historic phenomenon that results from changes in the world economy. US government has been complicit in this change. Can the US government help reverse the loss of industry in Baltimore, probably not. pl

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Well, pilgrims, the cops who have been acquitted should sue all those involved including the City of Baltimore. pl 27 July, 2016

Comments

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GCP,

In the 18th century, there were many who believed that in the upcoming age of reason, everyone will get along fine because everyone will be rational. These people have not gone extinct notwithstanding two centuries of slaughter and unreason.

Before there was the religious justification of slavery in 18th and 19th century, there were many who argued that religion made slavery obsolete, as early as late Middle Ages--and slavery did become obsolete in a good chunk of Europe, only to reappear when circumstances changed--and with religion recruited to justify slavery. I hesitate to think that just because the slavery nonsense looks to be in the past tense, being a century and a half removed from our history, it won't make a come back in some fashion, along with many other things that we think are consigned to the dustbin of history, when the circumstances change.

There were many who argued that wars became obsolete in late 19th and early 20th centuries, including all the way up to the eve of the First World War. We should know better than to think anything belongs firmly in the past never to come back.

I Would not recommend cops suing the city. The rules of civil evidence and discovery are different , they will win nothing and come out looking worse once they are deposed. nothing changes the basic fact , a live citizen ended up dead in police custody, chances are very high that the city could contersue and get upto the civil level of evidence against the cops, ( preponderance rather than beyond reasonable doubt)

This is absolutely correct, and is another example of how the supply side obsession over the past 30 years has led to a demand starved economy. There are other factors like automation and free movement of capital (without free movement of people) but it's been an intentional hollowing out of the economy based on faulty assumptions.

I'm a hispanic liberal, and I agree completely with the assessment in your post. This civil unrest is due to the loss of industrial jobs in places like Baltimore. This is due to global issues helped by neo-liberal national economic policy that is bi-partisan and has been advanced for the last 40 years.

I went to school in Baltimore a couple of decades ago. Since then I've only been in Baltimore once, back in 2009. A few months ago I visited my nephew going to Hopkins. I took 40 in through West Baltimore. Dear God, what a frightening hellhole it has become. Even though it was midday it felt extremely unsafe to be driving through there, especially as a white guy who is often mistaken for a cop. I recall thinking how I wished I had an up-armored Humvee with Blackwater mercs for the drive. But I didn't, and every light I was stopped at, I had images of Reginald Denny being dragged into the street, and brutalized, running through my mind.

On a related note, Trump had a great line in the press conference today. He said Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby "ought to prosecute herself". LMAO.

Good thread, thanks to all commenters.
I don't have anything much to add beyond another shout-out for "The Wire" (David Simon was one of the creators).

The fact that Baltimore is around 65% black and almost entirely governed by blacks, and that riots and social unrest and police brutality (black-on-black) still take place suggests that some other factor(s) is(are) at work. I agree that the root cause is economic inequality, and believe this needs to be stated and restated until it becomes an inseparable part of the explanatory narrative. As an aside, the fact that the city is black-governed and policed, and violence still occurs - wouldn't that suggest that the division is not so much racial as economic (a power/financial elite vs. the disenfranchised)?

I don't have a solution, but was wondering - does anyone know of an old industrial city in the U.S. or abroad that has been successfully revitalized through the provision of middle-class alternatives to manufacturing jobs? Baltimore seems an ideal test-case for such an initiative.

I love the city, btw - have been there multiple times in the past few years to visit family.

CP: Here in Virginia punitives are capped at $350,000. In Maryland there is no cap, but there is also a standard requiring actual malice, i.e. actual evil intent- not conduct so negligent as to equal "intent."

Also, it has been well established that a lot of the shipyards and other manufacturers well knew as early as the turn of the 20th century that asbestos was killing their workers. Asbestos is a particularly pernicious ailment, you die slowly and with great pain and suffering and the condition is objectively provable.

There are a lot of "trial attorneys" that have gone broke losing contingent cases. It is hugely expensive to take these cases on. While I agree that these are sometimes inappropriate motivators it is the system the business community actually wants. Its easy to crush any but the deepest pocketed plaintiffs firm.

As usual, Tyler is talking out of his a$$. And no, I don't do PI work.

I entirely agree with Confusedponderer. Out of personal experience and without judging the legal aspects of work injuries, if you are injured, this means destitution in US. You won't be able to afford your (already more expensive) medical treatment. I entirely understand the litigiousness of the patients.
In Belgium a similar system exists for medical errors and how they are handled. Obviously the medical malpractice insurance costs are much lower, as lawyers become almost redundant and the compensation is reasonable and paid in a timely manner, thus benefiting both parties.